In my opionon. CSX got the better deal. They got the line that had the best grades, they got the traffic, and they got salesmen. where as NS got the most track, cars, and engines, they also got the line that take more money to maintain.

That being said, CSX and NS both bought SD70ACe's. Only CSX bought SD70MAC's. CSX has labeled their SD70MAC's as SD70AC's. They were 700-774, not incl. the Conrail units, and now are 4500-4574. There was a second CSX variation, which includes the flared units 4701-4830. The SD70Ace's are numbered 4831-4850.

Here's a little tongue-in-cheek comparison between CSX and NS track maintenance standards. Taken this summer at Orange, Virginia To the left is the CSX Piedmont Subdivision To the right is NS mainline.... Does anyone see a difference???

NS has an advantage in the I-81 corridor (Atlanta and Midsouth to the northeast), as well as the Meridian Speedway from Texas to Atlanta that beats any CSX offering.

CSX got a higher percentage of the North Jersey intermodal than anticipated. NS didn't undermine the already cut rates so the need to route over the Erie was eliminated.

I even prefer NS black scheme with the big WM style wings over CSX's Dark Future scheme. Isn't it odd that the easiest crossing, C&O's, is just a coal conveyor with a short dead freight and hosts no intermodal or mixed carload trains?

As a novice railfan I am curious if the competition between CSX and NS is a heated rivalry or more on the friendly side? Do CSX employees despise NS employees and vice versa? I just saw a post about CSX detouring on NS, I take it this is something competing railroads do for each other at a price?

Re: CSX vs. NS calling signals. Author: DirtyShirt Interesting observation. In my area of North Carolina, I observe the complete opposite of what you hear in Georgia. Many of the NS crews communicate with clicks, grunts and whispers on the radio, while the CSX crews announce signals more clearly including the train symbol and engine number.

The NS SD80MAC\'s tend to stay in just a few areas, allowing railfans to keep close tabs on them. A few of the CSX MAC\'s used to hang out at Benning Yard in D.C. but that appears to have ended as the DF AC4400\'s have started to move in.

Reading a nice thread below comparing the timing of NS vs. CSX for the Bullet train, I'm intrigued to know if anyone can give the NS milage from Brighton Park to Croxton as well as the CSX milage from McCook on the IHB to Little Ferry. Since …